Punjab Kings had another disappointing season during the last edition of IPL as they finished at no.6 of the points table with 6 wins out of 14 games. According to reports, captain KL Rahul might join the Lucknow-based franchise. Their skipper KL Rahul wished to end his journey with Punjab and pursue it with a new team from the upcoming season. This decision bring even more difficulties to the camp of Punjab franchise. Let’s see PBKS auction strategy for IPL 2022 Mega Auction.
PBKS retained players 2022
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— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) November 30, 2021
PBKS retained only two players- opener, Mayank Agarwal, for 12 crores and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh for 4 crores ahead of IPL 2022. PBKS has massive 72 crores pursue to select players from the upcoming Mega Auction. Keeping in mind the same, Now take a look at which players PBKS might target in the upcoming mega auction in February ahead of next season.
PBKS auction strategy 2022
Punjab Kings’ target players- Batsmen
As they lost their skipper as well as an attacking opener, KL Rahul, they need to be more calculative in the case of picking batsmen. David Warner could be their perfect purchase for this position. Last year due to his off form he was sacked from the captaincy of SRH and also dropped from the team but he got back his form in wt20 where he smashed 289 runs in just 7 games and won the title ‘Man Of The Tournament’. He could be their next captain for the next season. He won the 2016 IPL title as a leader of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
It was shocking that PBKS released south African Aiden Markram as this 27-year-old hard-hitter smashed 146 runs in just 6 matches with the strike rate of 122.68 last year. He carried him from into the WT20. He also can bowl some overs on behalf of his team. Markram will be expensive in the auction table but PBKS could bring him back as they need this kind of talent, and also they have enough purse amount.
As far as the middle order is concerned PBKS has got a lot to think about when it comes to building a promising team for the next 3 seasons. They might pick Shah Rukh Khan who performed exceptionally well with his willow in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. This Tamil Nadu batter can bat anywhere in the lineup. They might bid for Shimron Hetmeyer and Deepak Hooda. The Windies star Shimron Hetmeyer was part of DC last year where he scored 242 runs in 13 games at an average of 34.57. Deepak Hooda was part of PBKS last season and he scored 160 runs in 11 matches. He also picked 2 wickets and can also play as an extra bowler.
Punjab Kings’ target players – Wicket-keeper
There are not so many options for the teams to pick wicket keepers in this auction as most of the teams retained their wicket keepers. So, there are few options in the PBKS hands like Bairstow, KS Bharat, and Dinesh Karthik. The English wicket-keeper batsman Johny Bairstow did exceptionally well in SRH jersey but nowadays his performance is not much better but considering his previous form the team management might target him in the auction. Last season Karthik did not perform as expected but he might take place the position of Lokesh Rahul as wicketkeeper as well as captain in the team.
Punjab Kings’ target players – All-Rounder
While PBKS released their young leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi, they are looking for a spinner and it will be better for them if the player can make some valuable quick runs for the team. They could go for experienced Afghan spinner Mohammed Nabi. He performed well with both willow and ball for his respective country in the Wt20. He did not get much opportunity in playing XI for SRH due to the team combination(only four foreigners are allowed in the playing XI). They might look interested in Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis who was released by DC. This Australian all-rounder smashed 89 runs in 10 innings and also picked 2 wickets last season while he was part of DC.
Punjab Kings’ target players- bowlers
Ahead of IPL 2022, keeping only youngster Arshdeep Singh in the squad, PBKS released their all experienced bowlers like Mohammed Shami, Richardson, and Chris Jordan. Mohammed Shami did exceptionally well with the ball last season. PBKS might bring back him for the upcoming seasons. PBKS must target one bowler who could be the match-winner for them. They might target Kiwi left-arm seamer, Trent Boult. Boult picked up 13 wickets in 14 games last year in Mumbai Indians’ jersey. Last year PBKS somehow felt a lack of death over specialists as their bowler leaked so many runs in the death overs. Finding such a death-over specialist, PBKS might look interested in Jofra Archer. Jofra Archer can bowl at any stage of the game with a speed of 140+ kmph continuously. Due to his injury, this English speed-star missed the last season. In 2020, he dismissed batsmen 20 times in just 14 matches at an economy rate of 6.56. He could be a big asset for Punjab Kings in the upcoming season. To fill the spinner’s spot PBKS has many options in their hand like Mitchell Santner, K. Gowtham, and Rahul Tewatia and they can also at the lower order.
